The present invention is directed to a neck booklet machine which is adapted to place an elastic band, string or the like connected to a neck booklet around a neck of a container, such as a bottle, beverage container or the like.
Advertising devices, such as neck booklets having closed elastic bands, closed loops or the like connected thereto, are desirably placed around the neck of beverage containers to convey a particular advertising message for the particular beverage within the container. Proskauer, U.S. Pat. No. 1,994,961, entitled "ADVERTISING DEVICE" describes a container having a neck portion with a booklet. Means for securing the booklet include a cord, or the like, passing through the booklet and positioned around the neck portion of the container. (Col. 2, lines 9-13.)
The rapid placement of neck booklets around the neck of a container involves manually stretching of the elastic band and its manual placement around the neck of the container. Because of the nature of mass production of beverage containers, these manual tasks are labor intensive. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,091,891 to O. A. Staves entitled "ASSEMBLING OF BOTTLE SEALS AND STRANDS" describes a method and apparatus for applying one end of cord around a sealing cap enclosing the top of the neck of a bottle. The stopper secures the attached end of the cord to the top of the bottle neck leaving the free end of the cord hanging down to display a booklet. The stopper is inserted either automatically or by hand and the loop of the cord is applied around the body portion of the partially inserted stopper. However, Staves fails to describe a device to accomplish these tasks. As the bottle moves along the conveyor, the weight of the booklet dragging along a rail creates frictional resistance thereby causing a slight tensioning in the cord so as to remove slack from the cord. This prevents the cord from becoming dislodged from the body portion of the closure and allows the presser wheel to fully insert the closure. However, with the ever increasing speed of production lines having large numbers of moving beverage containers, the manual placement of neck booklets becomes more difficult and often requires additional people to perform the manual placement function.
Machines have also been designed to position elastic type members around the cylindrical objects, such as expandable neck labels around the neck of a container. For example, Amberg et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,460, entitled "APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ASSEMBLYING TUBULAR SLEEVE PREFORMS AND CONTAINERS" discloses a device to place a heat-shrinkable tubular sleeve about the neck of a container. The tubular sleeve is flat folded in a holder having dimensions complemental to the retained flattened stack of sleeves (Col. 3, line 55-57). As shown in FIG. 1 of Amberg et al., the flattened tubular sleeve is gripped by a pair of vacuum cups moving downwardly and divergently along chains to open the flattened sleeve. As shown in FIG. 2 the opened tubular sleeve is placed on a cylindrical mandrel to more fully open the tubular sleeve prior to its being mounted telescopically by a stripper element on the container neck portion of the container.
Hoffman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,186,333, entitled "RUBBER BAND STRETCHING APPARATUS", discloses a device for wrapping elastic bands around an article. The elastic bands are supplied in a stacked relationship, such as having adjacent bands connected to each other by a strip. A feeder blade grasps the lowermost band so that four expander fingers are positioned with the band. The outmost fingers are shifted downwardly and outwardly, the major component of their movement being horizontal. The innermost fingers are shifted downwardly and outwardly, with the major component of their movement being downwardly. (See FIGS. 2-7 of Hoffman et al.) As the elastic band is expanded, it engages four release fingers which are respectively disposed adjacent to the rear ends of the expander fingers. The curved and angulated configuration of the release fingers allows the elastic band to slip from engagement with them and engage the article.
Strout, U.S. Pat. No. 2,103,302, entitled "BAND APPLYING MACHINE" describes a machine for applying a tubular banding sleeve to a neck of a container. A magazine is disposed to store collapsed or flat sleeves. A first movable suction member withdraws a sleeve from the magazine and positions it over the neck of the container. Second suction members in cooperation and conjunction with the first suction member effects the opening of the sleeve. The sleeve is opened by an air jet via tubes which force air into the interior of the banding sleeve. An expansible member, first engages the sleeve as a cone shaped member and then expands itself and the sleeve into a cylindrical shape. This expands the sleeve into an open position for positioning onto the neck of the container.
Metcalf, U.S. Pat. No. 3,558,404, entitled "APPARATUS FOR APPLYING A LABEL TO A CONTAINER BY MOVING THE CONTAINER THROUGH RESILIENT FINGERS HAVING THE LABEL MOUNTED THEREON" describes a label applicator which applies a label to a container by first placing the label over a small end of a conical-shaped label stretcher comprising a plurality of resilient fingers affixed to a ring. (See FIGS. 1-4 of Metcalf.) As the container moves, via driving means, through the ring and the large end of the label stretcher towards the small end of the label stretcher, it expands the resilient fingers and the label. By applying pressure to the label perpendicular to the axis of the container, the label is secured to the container so that the container may be removed from the label applicator. Metcalf also suggests that a resilient expandable solid cone may be used in lieu of ring and expandable fingers.
It is evident that considerable work has been done in the field of mounting expandable bands around a neck of a container, or elastic bands around cylindrical objects, and the above described machines provide for important advantages in operation. Nevertheless, none of these devices use a curved magazine to maintain the stacked neck booklets having an elastic band therein in combination with first vacuum means to enable second vacuum means, a needle point, an opening horn and application fingers to affix the elastic band around the bottle neck as the bottles move sequentially along a conveyor. While these machines achieve their stated purpose, they are complex in operation and do not address the problem of affixing a neck booklet having an elastic band around the neck of a beverage container moving along a conveyor line.
None of the patents and patent applications described above provides the important advantages of providing a neck booklet machine capable of precisely affixing neck booklets having an elastic band therethrough onto beverage containers moving rapidly along a conveyor.